Big boom in bathroom business
No longer the stepchild of kitchen or living room renovations, bathrooms have become the top focus for many German home owners with sales rising to €21.5 billion last year from €16.3 billion in 2005, it was reported on Sunday.
This is in sharp contrast to years ago, when the bathroom was seen as a purely functional place that was no more than five square meters, which was considered huge, weekly paper the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported.
Today some deluxe bathrooms in Germany can cost €50,000 and on average, Germans spend 40 minutes a day there.
Second bathrooms are becoming so common that soon nearly every second apartment will have one, the paper said. Many owner occupied houses often have a master bathroom behind the main bedroom.
And the trend is toward larger bath tubs and to having the tub take a major position in the room, rather than being next to the wall.
Despite the trend, bathrooms in five million homes are 25 years old or older and are in dire need of being renovated. Some 60 percent of Germans view their bathrooms as not a “relaxing” place.
The most common complaints are that the bathroom is too small and outdated. The biggest hindrance on staring a renovation is the cost – which can quickly amount to €20,000, not including personal touches like pictures and decorative items.
The Local/mw
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This is in sharp contrast to years ago, when the bathroom was seen as a purely functional place that was no more than five square meters, which was considered huge, weekly paper the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported.
Today some deluxe bathrooms in Germany can cost €50,000 and on average, Germans spend 40 minutes a day there.
Second bathrooms are becoming so common that soon nearly every second apartment will have one, the paper said. Many owner occupied houses often have a master bathroom behind the main bedroom.
And the trend is toward larger bath tubs and to having the tub take a major position in the room, rather than being next to the wall.
Despite the trend, bathrooms in five million homes are 25 years old or older and are in dire need of being renovated. Some 60 percent of Germans view their bathrooms as not a “relaxing” place.
The most common complaints are that the bathroom is too small and outdated. The biggest hindrance on staring a renovation is the cost – which can quickly amount to €20,000, not including personal touches like pictures and decorative items.
The Local/mw
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